Battle of Punta Gruesa
| Battle of Punta Gruesa | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the War of the Pacific | |||||||
 Naval Combat of Iquique - The sinking of the Esmeralda | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Chile | Peru | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Carlos Condell | Juan Guillermo More | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1 schooner | 1 armoured frigate | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
4 dead 3 wounded |
18 dead 5 wounded 1 armoured frigate lost | ||||||
The Naval Battle of Punta Gruesa took place on May 21, 1879 during the War of the Pacific between Chile and Peru. This may be labelled as the second part of the Naval Battle of Iquique, although it is described in many sources as a separate battle. This is one of the combats of the Sea Campaign.
Context
During the first year of the war, Chilean war efforts were focused on destroying the Peruvian Navy. This, in order to clear the seas for the Chilean Navy, whose duty would be to help the army to conquer Bolivian and Peruvian territories with troop landings and port blockades.
During May 1879, the main ships of the Chilean Navy were sent towards the Peruvian port of Callao in order to destroy its navy, while two old, wooden ships -the corvette Esmeralda and the schooner Covadonga, commanded by Captain Arturo Prat and Captain Carlos Condell respectively - were left blockading the Peruvian port of Iquique.
However, as the Chilean Navy steamed north towards Callao, two ironclad ships of the Peruvian Navy steamed south from Callao, unseen. These ships were the monitor Huáscar and the armoured frigate Independencia, commanded by Admiral Miguel Grau and Captain Juan Guillermo More.
On the morning of May 21, 1879, the watchman of Esmeralda spotted two ships coming from the north. These were the Peruvian Independencia and Huáscar. Attempting to escape in order to warn the fleet, Covadonga headed south but Esmeralda experienced engine problems. By this time, the battle was inevitable: while Huáscar engaged Esmeralda, Independencia pursued Covadonga south.
Heading south, Captain Condell of Covadonga realized that the quicker but heavier Independencia could not clear shallow water as well as his own schooner would. He kept close to the coast with Independencia in pursuit, while both ships traded fire. Independencia's lack of trained gunners, and Covadonga's accurate sniper fire on gunners and helmsmen, prolonged the chase for over three hours without resolution. Captain More of Independencia decided to take a riskier approach and ram the Chilean ship. Constantly sounding for depth, he attempted to do so twice, only to have to call off the attack when approaching the shallows. Close to Punta Gruesa, a shallow cove, Covadonga scraped, but barely cleared an underwater reef. Independencia, attempting to ram for a third time, struck the obstacle and immediately took water and settled listing to starboard. Covadonga then turned around and opened fire, while Independencia's crew fired back[1] and tried to set her free.
As Captain More realized his ship was lost he ordered its destruction, but the magazine was already flooded and it could not be blown up. Covadonga kept firing but retreated as Huáscar was seen coming from the north. Huáscar's commander checked on Independencia and decided to pursue the enemy after seeing she was immobilized, but this cost precious time and Covadonga steamed south as fast as possible. Captain Grau realized that Huáscar would not catch up on the 10 mile head start before dusk, gave up the chase and returned to assist Independencia and salvage her guns; the crew (those aboard and on the beach) were rescued and the ship set on fire.
Peru had 18 crew killed and 5 wounded; 4 Chilean crewmembers were killed and 3 wounded[2].
Aftermath
The twin naval battles of Iquique and Punta Gruesa were Peruvian tactical victories; the blockade on Iquique was lifted and Chile left the area. However, the battles proved to be strategically costly; one of the most powerful warships in the Peruvian Navy was lost, while Chile only lost one of its oldest wooden warships. This left the Huáscar alone to fight the entire Chilean Navy. Also, the heroic death of Captain Prat inspired thousands of Chilean youth to join the army. This is considered in Chilean history as one of the most important factors for achieving victory.
References
- ^ Farcau, Bruce W. (Sep 30, 2000). The Ten Cents War: Chile, Peru, and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific, 1879-1884, ISBN 0-275-96925-8
- ^ Sondhaus, Lawrence (May 4, 2004). Navies in Modern World History, ISBN 1-86189-202-0